Not Supposed to be Like This
by KitLee
Summary: When two people learn the hard way the safe sex isn't necessarily safe, how will they and their families react? Can they pull themselves together in time to be parents? Some strong language ahead.
1. Prologue

Title: Not Supposed to Be Like This  
  
Author name: KitLee  
  
Author e-mail: Kitlee522@yahoo.com  
  
Category: Drama  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Summary: It was supposed to be beautiful and perfect. They were in love. They were careful. But somehow things didn't work out that way. Now she's pregnant, and he's confused. Now Ashley and Craig have to deal with the aftermath. Can they grow up in time to be parents?  
  
Disclaimer: The people/places, etc. aren't mine. They are the property of Playing with Time, Inc. and/or Epitome. I'm not sure which one owns them. Anyway, they are all from Degrassi, so thanks exec-types for letting me play with them for a bit.  
  
Author's Note: This story takes place after my (as of yet unfinished) Becoming a Family.   
  
10...  
  
Ashley had never been more scared.  
  
Once, when she was seven, she and her parents had gone to New York to see a play for Christmas. The city was huge and amazing to Ashley, who had stared up at everything, trying to see it all. Of course she had dropped her mother's hand, which always pulled her along impatiently as they had rushed from place to place, and her mother, thinking that her father had taken her hand, simply walked onward. At first Ashley could keep up, but then, as they had passed FAO Schwartz, a giant display of legos had caught her attention. When she finally turned back to the street, her parents were nowhere to be found.  
  
That had frightened Ashley half to death, but looking back, it was nothing compared to now.  
  
9...  
  
Taking a slow and ragged breath, she tried to calm herself before looking. The box had said three minutes, and looking at her watch, Ashley saw nine seconds left.   
  
Nine seconds of childhood left, she though. Nine seconds of freedom, of peace, of worry without reason.  
  
8...  
  
How could things have gotten so far? Two weeks ago she was so certain that this was Right. They loved each other, so why not? This wasn't like her and Jimmy, a superficial relationship. She and Craig were soul mates. Sex was what soul mates were supposed to do.   
  
7...  
  
They'd even used protection. How could she be pregnant if they'd used protection? They'd even done it right -- leaving space at the end and everything. The condom hadn't broken. They'd done everything they were supposed to do to be safe. So why weren't they?  
  
6...  
  
When she'd first started feeling sick and had skipped her period, Ashley had screamed in her room. Digging through her drawers, she'd found the box of condoms, wanting to rip them to shreds for not protecting her. On it, in small letters, she had read "92% effective." Fuck.  
  
Taking another calming breath, she counted down with her watch. 5...4...3...2...1.  
  
Ashley looked at the pregnancy test and started crying. 


	2. Chapter 1

Title: Not Supposed to Be Like This  
  
Author name: KitLee  
  
Author e-mail: Kitlee522@yahoo.com  
  
Category: Drama  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Summary: It was supposed to be beautiful and perfect. They were in love. They were careful. But somehow things didn't work out that way. Now she's pregnant, and he's confused. Now Ashley and Craig have to deal with the aftermath. Can they grow up in time to be parents?  
  
Disclaimer: The people/places, etc. aren't mine. They are the property of Playing with Time, Inc. and/or Epitome. I'm not sure which one owns them. Anyway, they are all from Degrassi, so thanks exec-types for letting me play with them for a bit.  
  
Author's Note: This story takes place after my (as of yet unfinished) Becoming a Family.   
  
Chapter 1  
  
Craig was happy.  
  
It seemed like it had been so long in coming, a day when only happiness filled him. For so long he had been torn up over his mother's death, then his father's abuse and death, and then Joey's relationship with Caitlin. But finally things were settling in to place. In a few months, he could pretend and brag and imagine that he had a normal balanced family: 1 dad, 1 mom, 1 sister, no pets. This morning had been hectic with Caitlin rushing around trying to find stuff wedged between the couch cushions and under her and Joey's bed, and Joey doing laundry and helping Angie with her homework at the last minute. Craig had fixed everyone eggs, even remembering how they liked them (fried, egg white omlette, scrambled, and poached). Joey had remarked that someone had woken up on the right side of the bed, and it was in that moment that Craig realized that he was happy. It was going to be a good day.  
  
Once at school he had searched for Ashley. She was the best girlfriend, he thought. She's always been there for me, listened to me whining and everything. I'll tell her that from now on they'll be an improved Craig, a more cheerful Craig. A Craig who will be there for her too, to whom she can spill her rants. He couldn't wait to hug her and kiss her and plan their upcoming weekend together.  
  
But Ashley wasn't in homeroom. Or in first period. In fact, she wasn't in school all day. When Mr. Simpson asked someone to take Ashely her assignments, Craig jumped at the chance. He hoped that she wasn't too sick.   
  
He got Emma to pick up Angela that afternoon and headed over to Ash's house. Only when he got there, no one answered the door. He leaned on the bell for a while, then reasoned that she was probably asleep so shouldn't make too much noise.   
  
"Hey Toby," he said, spotting Toby walking up to the house with JT. "Can you let me in?"  
  
"Sure. Ash isn't around?"  
  
"I guess she's upstairs or something. I just need to give her her assignments."  
  
Toby gave him a How Stupid Do You Think I Am face, but opened the door for him.  
  
Inside, Craig bounded up the stairs and rapped lightly on Ashley's door.   
  
He could hear muffled cries inside. "Go away."  
  
"Ash, it's me, can I come in?"  
  
There was a pause as if she were weighing her options. "Come in," she said at last.  
  
Craig entered. The shades were tightly drawn and the room was almost completely dark. Ashley was curled up all fetal under the covers. Craig went over to her bed and sat down, stroking her hair gently.  
  
"Hey Ash, how're you feeling?" He moved to kiss her, but she jerked away and rolled over to face the wall. Surprised, he took her by the shoulders and rolled her back to face him. "Ash, what's the matter?" he asked, alarmed as he saw her crying.  
  
Ashley gulped struggling for the words. She finally turned back to the wall. To it, she said flatly, "I'm pregnant."  
  
Craig stared at her in shock. "What? I mean...?"  
  
"I'm pregnant."  
  
Craig stood, shocked and blinking slowly. His brain kept trying to wrap itself around those words. Pregnant. Ash. Pregnant. Ash. "Ash..."  
  
Her eyes pierced his, and he could see how difficult this was on her as well. "...I...I'll take care of you," he finished lamely.  
  
"Thanks," she said warily. "You don't have to. I don't even know if I'll keep it."  
  
"Ash...not keep it? We can take care of the baby, good care. We'll get married and, and I'll drop out of school to take care of you and the baby, or we could find a way to make it work with us both in school, and we'll raise him or her, and be good parents Ash, I know we could," he said, his voice rising with excitement as he imagined the scenario. Joey was a great guardian, but he wasn't a dad. With the baby, he and Ash and the baby could be a family.  
  
"But it wouldn't work Craig. We have to go to school all day. Who would take care of it? Do you think Joey would let you drop out of school? How would we afford to buy things for the baby? It just wouldn't work out."  
  
"We'd make it work, Ash. If Emma's mom could do it, we could too. I know it. You can't have an abortion," he finished softly.  
  
"I could give the baby up for adoption. Then we'd know that he or she would be taken care of."  
  
"Yeah, but not by us. We could never be sure...Ash, please, let me take care of you." He knelt beside her bed. "Marry me, please Ash."  
  
Ashley nodded hesitantly, then shook her head. "Craig...I love you...but it's such a big decision. It's the rest of our lives we're talking about." Seeing his crestfallen expression, she added, "Let's just tell our parents first. We can decide from there what to do."  
  
Craig nodded, though he felt his stomach twist at the thought of confessing to Joey that Ashley was pregnant. Boy is he going to be surprised, Craig thought.  
  
*****  
  
"You what?!" Joey exclaimed that night after dinner. It had taken hours for Craig to find the right moment to drop the news -- dinner had to be made, Angela was working on a writing assignment for school and kept asking for help spelling. Then Angela had to be put to bed, and Caitlin, Joey's fiance, had come home late, so they had had to talk. In short, it was nearly ten o'clock by the time Craig worked up the nerve to drop the news on Joey. He'd planned on taking him aside and delivering a little speech he'd been rehearsing ever since he'd left Ash's house that afternoon, polishing it up and practicing the delivery to himself until it sounded mature and natural. However, after waiting for so long, he finally just blurted it out, interrupting Joey and Caitlin.  
  
"So yeah," he said loudly, "today I went to give Ash her assignments from school and found out that she's pregnant. I'm gonna be a dad."  
  
Silence fell as absolutely and as suddenly as if they had been simultaneously hit with nerve gas. Two heads swivled to stare at Craig, standing in the living room, looking rumpled and shocked and very much a teenager. Then Joey broke the silence. "You what?!"  
  
"Ashley's pregnant," Craig repeated, more nervously this time. He stared at his feet. If this were his father, a beating was sure to follow this statement, and Craig hadn't quite broken himself of the habit of flinching whenever he delivered bad news. He glanced up after a moment to see Joey looking as if he'd been hit over the head with a UFO and was trying to figure out where it had gone.   
  
"Pregnant," Joey said, in an odd tone between a question and a statment.   
  
Craig nodded and looked at Caitlin. She was still sitting on the couch, looking wide-eyed with shock. She looked as if she had something to say, and after several more moments of silence, she spoke up. "Do her parents know?"  
  
"She's telling them tonight," Craig said. "We wanted to tell you all at once."  
  
Uncomfortable silence descended once more, during which Craig was tempted to ask permission to leave so they could start talking about him behind his back. Ultimately, Caitlin broke it again.  
  
"So, what are going to do?" she asked.  
  
"We're...we're going to keep it. You know, raise it and take care of it. I asked Ash to marry me, and she said yes," he stammered through the whole part, waiting for shots of protest or worse.  
  
"This is really stupid of you Craig," Joey said slowly.   
  
"Joey--" Caitlin began, but he cut her off.  
  
"You got her pregnant. You got her fucking pregnant?! I--I don't know--I just can't believe you could be so stupid. You and Ashley are just in grade ten, and getting married isn't going to help that. How are you going to take care of the baby? Where are you going to live? How are you going to get money?"  
  
"I dunno," Craig said softly.  
  
"You don't know? Well, you better figure it out because babies are fucking expensive and a hell of a lot of work."  
  
Caitlin moved towards him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey--"  
  
He shrugged it off. "Don't," he said. He turned back to Craig and took a deep breath. "Craig, man, I gotta go. We'll talk tomorrow." Joey grabbed his keys and stormed into the garage. From inside the house, Caitlin and Craig could hear the car squealing out of the driveway.  
  
"He'll calm down, don't worry," Caitlin said helpfully. "Just try and get some sleep. I'll talk to him when he gets back. You okay?" She looked into his eyes, concerned.  
  
"I have to go call Ash," he said shortly, grabbing the phone and slamming the door to his bedroom. 


End file.
